Sunday, May 29, 2011

05/29/2011
The German government issued a loaded statement the other day when it said a fair and swift resolution of the airport terminal project is encouraged for foreign investors to even consider projects under Noynoy’s private-public partnership (PPP) scheme.

The statement mentioned “the international business community” instead of investors in Germany to indicate that a likely consensus was arrived at on the terminal issue. The German Embassy, while saying no comment on the recent court ruling awarding what the investors in the terminal project had considered a token amount, the timing of the communique was hard to miss.

The statement reads that a fair and swift solution would be an encouraging signal for the international business community to engage in long-term investments such as the PPP..... MORE

05/29/2011
Without even checking things out, and on the basis of a news report, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo quickly sacked the warden of the Camp Bagong Diwa on allegations that Andal Ampatuan Sr., the patriach of the clan, was “freely roaming” in that prison.

It turns out that the photo published, which was provided by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, Ampatuan’s political foe, was at least a year old.

This is the same Mangudadatu who also says that Ampatuan has an air-conditioned room, plus a cellfone.

It was Robredo who clarified, after his talk with Mangudadatu, that the photo of Ampatuan is an old one..... MORE

05/29/2011
ROSGLAS — It looks like any other another leafy woodland path in Brittany, but campaigners say ramblers on this particular trail may face levels of radiation at least 10 times higher than normal.

The path runs alongside a disused uranium mine in the hamlet of Rosglas, one of over 200 suspect sites dotted across France, this one marked with just a makeshift sign drawn up by local anti-nuclear campaigners.

When the leaders of the world’s most powerful developed economies meet this week at the G8 summit to discuss the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima reactor disaster, France will urge them to keep faith with nuclear power.

Some three-quarters of France’s domestic power comes from nuclear plants, and the country is keen to export its expertise in the form of modern third generation EPR reactors — which it insists are safe..... MORE

05/29/2011
It is the classic case of “while the cat is away, the mice will play” in real life.

A thoroughly disgusted and disappointed Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has gone to court seeking relief from the implementation of an ordinance granting overly-generous tax breaks to the multi-billion cellular telephone firm Smart Telecommunications.

Declared respondents in the suit filed recently before the Manila Regional Trial Court were Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso as well as several members of the City Council who had passed Ordinance No. 8229 exempting Smart from paying franchise and real property taxes on its telecommunications equipment in cell sites situated within city boundaries..... MORE

05/29/2011
Malacañang is bent on doing away with poverty in the country. Good! It has prepared a legislative vehicle for the purpose. Great! It is ready to spend billions to accomplish its design to propel the economic development of the country. Bravo!

How? Plain and simple! Do not allow babies to be born. Do not allow wives to become mothers. Do not allow husbands to be fathers. Get rid of people for the lesser they are, the better. The food on the table is not enough to feed the children around it. Solution: Lessen the children instead of making the food more. The houses available are few and/or small to accommodate families. Solution: Make the families smaller or fewer instead of multiplying and/or enlarging houses..... MORE

By Benjamin B. Pulta 05/29/2011
Where once he had the power to have charges filed against perceived political foes of the regime, today, former Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez stands accused in a malversation complaint filed against him before the DoJ that appears to also be going after the Noynoy administration’s political foes.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has assigned a new prosecutor to handle a pending case against her predecessor in the agency.

In Department Order No. 263, De Lima said that “in the interest of public service, Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Liwayway Nazal is designated as acting provincial prosecutor of Zambales to conduct the preliminary investigation” of Gonzalez.

The case, docketed as NPS III-019-INV-10K-00669 involves malversation of
public property..... MORE

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 05/29/2011
The Catholic Church which has been active in the local anti-mining movement supposedly championing the cause of indigenous people and environmental groups that protest against the destructive effects of mining operations appear to be benefitting themselves from interests in Philex Mining Corp. (Philex) which is controlled by the group of businessman Manuel Pangilinan.

Documents provided The Tribune showed that various religious groups, including The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, belong to the top 100 stockholders of Philex Mining.

The other Catholic groups shown in the documents to have a substantial stake in the mining firm included The Religious of the Virgin Mary and The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Zamboanga..... MORE

A lawmaker has filed a bill granting airline franchisees the right to develop airports in rural areas in the country.
Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo, author of House Bill 3775, said the proposal will provide a way to develop rural airports through the help of the private sector.

“Our country sorely needs dependable transport systems to make economically convenient and affordable access to and from rural areas. For commerce of any national importance to take any meaningful presence in a community, options of transport services must be made available to allow the use of the kind of service commensurate to the nature of the requirement,” Gunigundo said.

Gunigundo said many airline companies can now expand their missionary routes by allowing them to invest in the construction and development of airport facilities in rural areas..... MORE

By Ted Boehnert 05/29/2011
Sen. Edgardo Angara is backing the establishment of a Philippine Algae Research Center, which is envisioned to harness the potential of algae in the lucrative fields of nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pharmeceuticals and animal feeds.

Angara, chairman of the congressional commission on Science Technology and engineering (Comste), said that the best way for the country to develop the industry would be through public-private partnerships (PPP). This would allow the private sector to focus leverage its industrial research, as well as academic research, to develop viable commercial products.

Angara said that Comste partners from Alson’s Aquaculture and the Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC) are collaborating on a PPP that looks into the commercial uses of algae, including its use as a biofuel..... MORE

President Aquino said he will come up with a decision on the issue of special privileges being accorded to high-profile prisoners inside their detention cells by the middle of next week upon receipt of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s report.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte tried to back her principal’s statement yesterday by reiterating the Department of Justice (DoJ) is already on the final stages of its report on the unauthorized vacation taken by former Batangas Gov. Jose Antonio Leviste from the New Bilibid Prisons while serving his jail sentence for homicide.

Valte said this is separate from the alleged special treatment being given by jail authorities to former Maguindanao Andal Ampatuan Sr., primary suspect in the 2009 mass execution of journalists and other civilians, inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City which cropped up only recently..... MORE

05/29/2011
Australian scientist and cervical cancer vaccine pioneer Prof. Ian Frazer (second from right) visited Muntinlupa City recently to observe the mobile clinic offering free cervical cancer screening to local residents. Organized by the city government, Department of Health (DoH), Cervical Cancer Prevention Network Program (Cecap) and the Cancer Institute Foundation, the free clinic provides local women with hospital-grade screening service for the early detection of cervical cancer..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune